INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
India's economy has grown at a robust pace of about 7 per cent in the past few yearsIndia needs to ramp up exports if workers are to enjoy
higher wages, according to a new report from the World Bank and the International Labor Organization.While the link between exports and
economic growth is widely accepted, the authors show how trade can help draw people out of the informal, or unregulated, economy and boost
pay, thereby reducing poverty
They estimate that raising the value of India's exports by $100 per worker would increase average annual wages by Rs 572 ($8) per
person.Nearly 10 million Indians enter the workforce every year in a country where almost 60 per cent of the population live below a poverty
line of $3.2 a day."Our results show the positive side of globalization in South Asia, which stems from higher exports," the authors say in
"Rising wages and a shift from informal to formal employment are exactly the kinds of benefits governments hoped for when they opened up
their economies to international trade."Trade ShareWorkers who are educated, urban and male tend to benefit more from the export gain,
according to the study.While India's economy has grown at a robust pace of about 7 per cent in the past few years, it's become less reliant
The World Bank estimates that trade as a percentage of gross domestic product dropped to 41 per cent in 2017 from 55.8 per cent in
2012.India's share of world exports is 1.7 per cent, while it buys 2.5 per cent of global imports, according to the World Trade
Organization.About 800,000 jobs moved from the informal economy to the formal sector between 1999 and 2011 because of export growth,
representing 0.8 per cent of the labor force, the World Bank study shows.Greater exports don't necessarily mean more jobs, according to the
study, and governments need to focus on better policies to get the maximum benefit of trade."With the right policies, India can ensure that
greater export orientation can boost workers' gains from trade and spread them more widely, so benefiting disadvantaged groups," the authors
said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
